EPT Scandinavian Open - Live Updates

Magnus Hansen is out and we're going heads-up between Soren Jensen and Tim Vance. The action in his last hand began limped with Jensen in the small blind and Hansen in the big. The flop was a raggedy 10♠ 9♥ 4♥ and after a Jensen raise and Hansen re-raise, Jensen shoved. Jensen stood up and Magnus made the call for his tournament life with 10♦ 6♥ against Jensen's 4♠ 9♠ for two pair. The 5♥ gave Hansen a flush draw, but the 7♠ river ended that. He's out third and will cash 3,521,429 DKK.

Heads-up will start in a few minutes with Jensen ($2.49 million) in the lead over Vance ($2.1 million).

Rasmus Nielsen just made an outstanding call for all his chips and was rewarded with nothing but a bad beat. It started with Nielsen opening to $99,000 and getting re-popped by Tim Vance to $350,000. Nielsen was out of position but made the call. The flop came out J♣ 9♠ 7♥ while Nielsen buried his face in his arms. Vance took a second before announcing all-in.

Nielsen finally looked up to see what the flop showed and stood up from the table. "I call," Nielsen said with a shrug. Nielsen turned over the impossibly weak 8♦ 8♣ and Vance said, "You've got a winner," as he rolled A♣ Q♦. The turn was the J♠, giving Vance a few more outs, and the river was the ace of spades (because it's always the f!@?&ng ace of spades). With that sick excuse for fifth street Rasmus Nielsen is out in fourth for 1,560,394 DKK.

Tim Vance was every bit Tim Vance in a big confrontation with Magnus Hansen just moments ago. After making a $73,000 pre-flop raise and getting the call from Hansen, he bet another $160k into the 7♠ K♥ 6♥ flop. Hansen decided to push putting Vance to a $700k decision.

After getting the OK from the TD, the American stood up to ponder his decision and running through just about every possibility Hansen could have pushed with, Vance broke into the Beatles’ “Lovely Rita Meter Maid”.

He first said he needed to fold, then pretty much told Hansen he had a king before saying he wouldn’t be able to lay it down. Eventually he did, ordering a cappuccino before sitting back down.

It will be three Danes against American Tim Vance for the title here now that Danny Ryan has crashed and burned. He open-shoved his short stack with A♠ Q♠ and Rasmus Nielsen was only too happy to oblige with a call, holding A♥ K♠.

The 2♦ J♦ 3♠ flop didn't help Ryan and the A♣ turn and 3♥ river sent the American back to Spain with a bag full of 1,286,270 DKK and a fifth-place finish on the EPT to add to the portfolio. We're down to four in Copenhagen kids. Hang around a while; it gets really good from here!

It's folded to Rasmus Nielsen in the small blind and he raises it up to $70,000. Tim Vance is in the big blind and takes a fews moments to think things over. "Do you have a hand?" asks Vance. "Yes, of course. I have kings. You are the big stack," jokes Nielsen.

Kings notwithstanding Vance makes the call and sees the flop come down 9♦ 8♠ 5♥. Nielsen quickly reaches for chips and pushes $120,000 across the line. Vance thinks for a moment before tossing his hand in the muck. Nielsen does him the courtesy of showing his hand - pocket jacks.

PL.com caught up with Tim Vance at the break and with the chip lead he's as confident as ever. Apparently, when his daughter was born, Vance told some friends he was going to be on TV playing poker by the time she was five.

"She just turned three and a half," he said. "Now I'm going to win this thing. It's in the bag. I'm going to get it over with quick and then I'm going to go party."

Despite all the boisterousness Tim's shown, on the table and off, he's still played solid poker throughout. He said he's going to give half his winnings to his daughter and hopes to make her proud.

"When she goes to school and the teacher calls her name," he said, "I want them to say 'Vance'? - Is Tim Vance your dad?"

A big pot between the two Americans at the table just played out and ended with Tim Vance adding to his sizable chip lead.

After a standard raise from Vance, Daniel Ryan re-raises his fellow American by $115k and Vance tanks, asking for a count. Once he hears Ryan has $509,000 he makes the call.

The flop comes 6♣ 7♣ 2♠ and Vance checks. Danny bets out $140k and after Vance says he puts him on a big pocket pair, he flat-calls. The turn brings the 8♦ into play and Vance asks for a count again before moving all-in, standing up and breaking into his own extremely annoying rendition of "Let It Be".

Speaking words of wisdom, Ryan lays it down.

Magnus Hansen has doubled through fellow Dane Rasmus Nielsen. Hansen made a $60k raise from the small blind and Nielsen gave him a little action in the big blind.

The flop came Q♣ 8♥ 7♥ and Hansen kept firing, betting out $100k. Nielsen suddenly shoved and had Hansen covered, putting him to a decision for all his chips. He made the call, felting pocket nines, and was way ahead of Nielsen's A-7. The 6♠ turn and K♣ river doubled Hansen up and crippled Nielsen once again.

Simon Dorslund was running well in the early going of the day but ran into his first major setback a few mintues ago when he doubled up Rasmus Nielsen. After that hand he was somewhat short-stacked and moved all-in over the top of a Tim Vance opening raise. Vance made it $53,000 from the cut-off and Dorslund shipped it for about $300,000.

Vance considered it for a few moments before making the call and tabling big slick. He saw he had Dorslund's A♥ 8♦ dominated and the J♦ 9♣ 2♣ flop didn't change much. The turn did a lot for Dorslund though, bringing the T♠ and adding a ton of straight outs to his list. The river was the 6♥ though and Simon Dorslund is out in seventh for 801,283 DKK.

For the second hand in a row Rasmus Nielsen open-shoved, but the second time around wasn’t much like the blind-stealing first as Simon Dorslund made the call with A♣ 10♥.

The race for Nielsen’s $300k was on as he showed pocket fives. The 6♥ K♥ Q♥ flop gave Dorslund many outs, but the 5♦ turn took away quite a few. The Q♦ river both filled and doubled Nielsen up. Dorslund looks to be in a bit of trouble now.

Tim Vance has been told to take his seat. The TD just pointed out to Vance that his constant standing and walking around is a no-no at an EPT final table and he's been asked to remain in his seat when he is in a hand.

Vance wanted to clarify the rule and was asking about different scenarios where he would be allowed to get up. Apparently, he can stand when all his chips go in the middle, effectively ending his action; other than that, he must stay seated.

The very next hand after getting it sorted, Vance, still the chip leader, moved all-in from the big blind and stood up out of his chair, stealing a Rasmus Nielsen small-blind limp in the process.

Soren Jensen just doubled through Rasmus Nielsen, increasing his stack to almost $1 million and crippling Nielsen down to $220,000. Jensen opened the pot to $44,000 from the button and Nielsen called in the big blind. The flop came down K♦ 8♥ 2♣ and after a check from Nielsen, Jensen fired $60,000. Nielsen moved all-in and got a quick call from Soren.

Soren Jensen: A♠ K♥

Rasmus Nielsen: J♦ 8♣

Jensen had a solid lead but would need to fade Nielsen's outs to stay alive. The board finished out K♣ Q♥ and the pot was shipped to Jensen. As he's done every time he's taken a pot Jensen jumped up from the table and started screaming some sort of incomprehensible Danish chant. Good show. 

Simon Dorslund's not shying away from the action despite coming into the day as a short stack. He just picked up a sizable pot off American Danny Ryan without a showdown. Ryan limped from the small blind, but Dorslund would have none of it, making it $45k more to see a flop. Ryan floated the bet before checking the 3♠ J♣ 3♥. Dorslund bet out $60k and Ryan pulled out the old check-raise maneuver, making it another $95k.

With the action back on Dorslund, the Dane pushes all-in for around $160k more, forcing Ryan to a decision. It's a quick fold and Dorslund picks up the pot.

Tim Vance seems to be coming unglued at this final table and just gave up a few chips due to his confusion. Daniel Ryan open-raised from under the gun and it was folded around to Vance in the big blind.

Apparently Tim thought he was in the small blind, and Ryan in the big blind, because he announced raise, thinking he was going after Ryan's big blind. When the situation was explained to him he seemed to become flustered and simply tossed his hand in the muck, paying off the necessary min-re-raise. Advantage: Everyone else at the table.

Since losing a huge pot and another small one, Tim Vance seems like he might be tilting. The American is as vocal as ever, pacing around the table, playing almost every hand and is clearly uncomfortable.

His running commentary on the play at the table is only rarely interrupted by his off-key rendition of the Beatles classic "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and he hasn't sat down since the final table began. There's no saying what will happen, but fellow American Daniel Ryan is hoping he doesn't get more hopped up. When Vance was overheard ordering a coffee, Ryan exclaimed, "No, no caffeine please!"

A Dane by the name of Hansen, Magnus to be exact, has doubled through chip leader Tim Vance. Magnus was one of three players to call a $33k pre-flop bet from Vance, but the only one to act upon Vance's $133k bet into the J♦ 8♣ 5♥ flop. Hansen's action was to push all-in for $276,000 more and after running through the range, Vance decided to make the call with A♦ J♦. The Dane held a set of tens and looked good until the 9♦ gave Vance the chance at running diamonds. However, the 8♠ was not one of them and Hansen doubled up to around $959k.

Vance is still the chip leader, dipping below the $1 million mark with $997k.

Tim Vance is not only putting on a clinic on power poker, he's also favoring us with a medley of classic Beatles tunes. He opened a pot a moment ago from middle position and got calls from Simon Dorslund on the button and Soren Jensen in the big blind. Jensen and Vance both checked it and Dorslund used the button to put in a bet of $65,000.

Jensen got out of the way and Vance fixed Dorslund with a hard stare. "I don't think you have a hand sir," said Vance as he deposited an additional $200,000 in the middle. Dorslund only thought for a moment before dumping his hand in the muck. More abuse of classic Beatles songs ensues as Vance rakes the pot.

Swede Patrik Andersson is out after shoving his short stack in facing a Danny Ryan raise. Ryan began the action in the hand, making it $35k from the button before Andersson shoved from the small blind for $102,000 more.

“Do you want a call?” Ryan asked, doing the math before making it.

It was A♦ 5♣ for Ryan ahead against Andersson’s K♥ 6♣ and the board rolled out 7♣ 5♦ 7♣ 10♠ J♥, giving Ryan the check mark and sending the Swede to the rail. Andersson will cash 569,333 DKK for his eighth-place finish.

Simon Dorslund just doubled through Patrik Andersson in a huge hand here in the early going. Dorslund made it $60k to go and got the call from Andersson in the big blind. The A♥ Q♣ 4♣ flop brought a check from Andersson and another $30k bet from Dorslund. Andersson waited for a minute before announcing a raise and making it $80k to see a turn.

Dorslund made the call and the turn came the 6♠. Without much hesitation Andersson shoved; Dorslund could not have called quicker. Dorslund’s well-played pocket queens left Andersson’s A-8 drawing dead. If you really need to know, the river was the 5♥, but the real news is that Dorslund’s double gives him close to $600k and Andersson is on life support.

We're less than half an hour from the start of the 2008 PokerStars EPT Scandinavian Open final table live from Casino Copenhagen.

What started with 460 now has just eight, and even the first player to hit the rail today will cash 569,333 DKK, which is more than $100k USD.

The player with the best shot at the 6,220,488 DKK (1.2 million USD) first-place prize will certainly have his eye on the exchange rates. American Tim Vance comes into today as the only player over $1 million in chips - nearly twice the clay of his nearest competitor. Not bad for a construction company owner from St. Louis who qualified in a Frequent Players Points satellite on PokerStars.

The locals remain well represented here in Copenhagen, as half the final eight are from Denmark. There's obviously nothing rotten about Rasmus Hede Nielsen's game. He leads the pack of Danes sitting in second with over $700k. Other Danes making the great eight include Magnus Hansen, Simon Dorslund and Soren Jensen, whose animated celebrations have people questioning his sanity at times - though no one is questioning his poker skills.

Another American, Daniel Ryan, comes in third in chips and is a dangerous foe. He barely missed his chance at a big score and some TV face time at EPT Dortmund a few weeks back, finishing 10th, but looks poised to challenge for a big payday today.

Rounding out the group are Swede Patrik Andersson and Frenchman Nicolas Dervaux, who used to be a pro pool player and told the French press he figures this poker stuff is real easy.

There's going to be more than a little action here in Copenhagen this afternoon and evening. Stick with PokerListings.com throughout for a plethora of live updates capturing all the action as it happens. And remember, fools learn from experience; wise men learn from the experience of others.